‘The president loves you’: US’ Vance visits Hungary to boost Orban re-election bid

US Vice-President J.D. Vance lavished praise on Hungary and Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday as he arrived in Budapest to boost the veteran nationalist leader’s campaign ahead of an election that many opinion polls suggest Orban will lose.Orban, a Eurosceptic nationalist in power since 2010, is facing the toughest re-election bid of his career, with independent polls indicating his Fidesz party will lose Sunday’s vote to centre-right challenger Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party.Vance’s visit, just days before the vote, underscores ‌how crucial President Donald Trump’s Maga movement deems Orban’s re-election to be. Trump has already personally endorsed Orban, 62, as “a truly strong and powerful leader”.“The relationship and friendship between Hungary and the United States is very important to us,” Vance told Orban before they entered talks behind closed doors.“In part because we love the Hungarian people and this amazing nation and culture, but in part because the president loves you, and so do I, because you’re such an important part of what has made Europe strong and prosperous.”Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) and US Vice-President J.D. Vance talk on the terrace of Orban’s office in Budapest. Photo: EPAVance and his wife Usha were greeted at the airport in Budapest by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who said the visit illustrated “a new golden age in US-Hungary relations”.